Blanket ban needed as minors still consuming hookah: Maharashtra government tells High Court

Maharashtra government told Bombay High Court that the ban on hookah parlours was due to the increasing consumption of hookah by minors.

The reason for the prohibition on hookah parlours was the Kamala Mills fire last year.&nbsp | &nbspPhoto Credit:&nbspThinkstock

Mumbai: The state government told the Bombay High Court on Monday that a ban on hookah parlours across the state was imposed because a huge number of minors were consuming it, endangering their health permanently. The issue has snowballed into a major concern as the number of illegal hookah parlours is hard to trace.

According to a report in The Indian Express, the HC was hearing petitions of the Carnival Retaurant and others who wanted to reverse the blanket ban as "illegal and bad in law". Their petition stated the “entire business cannot be stopped and that will be disproportionate to the need for the purpose of imposing the restriction”. The petitioners were distressed by the 'high-handed action" of the state government, they had told the court earlier. The HC had ordered the state government to file a reply.

The counsel of the state government told the HC that a huge number of minors were consuming hookah and people present at the hookah parlours are affected by hazardous passive smoking. Maharashtra government brought a statutory amendment to the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition) Act (COTPA) of 2003, banning hookah parlours into effect on October 4.

The amendment forbids any person from owning or opening or running on behalf of someone else, a hookah parlour in the state, including at eating places. Talking for the petitioners, senior counsel Anil Anturkar told the court that the state government had prohibited the consumption of hookah but not banned tobacco. Reportedly, the reason for the prohibition was the Kamala Mills fire last year.